AWS SES

Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is a cost-effective email platform for sending transactional, marketing, and notification emails. It also receives incoming email and integrates with S3, SNS, and Lambda for processing.

Core Concepts

• Verified Identity — domain or email address authorized to send
• Configuration Set — tracking settings for opens, clicks, bounces
• Template — reusable email template with variable substitution
• Receipt Rule — rules for processing incoming emails
• Suppression List — addresses that bounced or complained
• Sending Quota — rate limits based on account reputation

Domain Verification

# Verify a domain (creates DKIM records)
aws sesv2 create-email-identity --email-identity example.com

# Get DKIM tokens to add as DNS CNAME records
aws sesv2 get-email-identity --email-identity example.com \
  --query 'DkimAttributes.Tokens'

# Verify a single email address (for testing)
aws sesv2 create-email-identity --email-identity test@example.com

# List verified identities
aws sesv2 list-email-identities --query 'EmailIdentities[].IdentityName'

Sending Email

# Send a simple email
aws sesv2 send-email \
  --from-email-address "noreply@example.com" \
  --destination '{"ToAddresses":["user@example.com"]}' \
  --content '{
    "Simple": {
      "Subject": {"Data": "Order Confirmation #12345"},
      "Body": {
        "Html": {"Data": "<h1>Thank you!</h1><p>Your order has been confirmed.</p>"},
        "Text": {"Data": "Thank you! Your order has been confirmed."}
      }
    }
  }' \
  --configuration-set-name prod-tracking

# Send email with boto3
import boto3

ses = boto3.client('sesv2')

ses.send_email(
    FromEmailAddress='noreply@example.com',
    Destination={
        'ToAddresses': ['user@example.com'],
        'BccAddresses': ['archive@example.com']
    },
    Content={
        'Simple': {
            'Subject': {'Data': 'Your Invoice'},
            'Body': {
                'Html': {'Data': '<h1>Invoice #INV-001</h1><p>Amount: $99.99</p>'},
                'Text': {'Data': 'Invoice #INV-001\nAmount: $99.99'}
            }
        }
    },
    ConfigurationSetName='prod-tracking'
)

Email Templates

# Create a template
aws sesv2 create-email-template \
  --template-name order-confirmation \
  --template-content '{
    "Subject": "Order Confirmation #{{orderNumber}}",
    "Html": "<h1>Hi {{customerName}},</h1><p>Your order #{{orderNumber}} for {{itemName}} has been confirmed.</p><p>Total: ${{total}}</p>",
    "Text": "Hi {{customerName}},\nYour order #{{orderNumber}} for {{itemName}} has been confirmed.\nTotal: ${{total}}"
  }'

# Send using a template
aws sesv2 send-email \
  --from-email-address "orders@example.com" \
  --destination '{"ToAddresses":["user@example.com"]}' \
  --content '{
    "Template": {
      "TemplateName": "order-confirmation",
      "TemplateData": "{\"orderNumber\":\"12345\",\"customerName\":\"Alice\",\"itemName\":\"Widget Pro\",\"total\":\"99.99\"}"
    }
  }'

# Bulk templated sending with boto3
import boto3

ses = boto3.client('sesv2')

ses.send_bulk_email(
    FromEmailAddress='marketing@example.com',
    DefaultContent={
        'Template': {
            'TemplateName': 'weekly-newsletter',
            'TemplateData': '{"week":"Jan 15"}'
        }
    },
    BulkEmailEntries=[
        {
            'Destination': {'ToAddresses': ['alice@example.com']},
            'ReplacementEmailContent': {
                'ReplacementTemplate': {
                    'ReplacementTemplateData': '{"name":"Alice","recommendations":"Widget A, Widget B"}'
                }
            }
        },
        {
            'Destination': {'ToAddresses': ['bob@example.com']},
            'ReplacementEmailContent': {
                'ReplacementTemplate': {
                    'ReplacementTemplateData': '{"name":"Bob","recommendations":"Gadget X, Gadget Y"}'
                }
            }
        }
    ],
    ConfigurationSetName='marketing-tracking'
)

Bounce and Complaint Handling

# Create a configuration set with event destinations
aws sesv2 create-configuration-set --configuration-set-name prod-tracking

# Add SNS destination for bounces and complaints
aws sesv2 create-configuration-set-event-destination \
  --configuration-set-name prod-tracking \
  --event-destination-name bounce-handler \
  --event-destination '{
    "Enabled": true,
    "MatchingEventTypes": ["BOUNCE", "COMPLAINT"],
    "SnsDestination": {
      "TopicArn": "arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789:ses-bounces"
    }
  }'

# Lambda handler for bounce/complaint SNS notifications
import json

def handler(event, context):
    for record in event['Records']:
        message = json.loads(record['Sns']['Message'])
        notification_type = message['notificationType']

        if notification_type == 'Bounce':
            bounce = message['bounce']
            for recipient in bounce['bouncedRecipients']:
                email = recipient['emailAddress']
                bounce_type = bounce['bounceType']  # Permanent or Transient
                if bounce_type == 'Permanent':
                    suppress_email(email)

        elif notification_type == 'Complaint':
            complaint = message['complaint']
            for recipient in complaint['complainedRecipients']:
                unsubscribe_email(recipient['emailAddress'])

Receiving Email

# Create a receipt rule set
aws ses create-receipt-rule-set --rule-set-name inbound-rules
aws ses set-active-receipt-rule-set --rule-set-name inbound-rules

# Create rule to store incoming email in S3 and trigger Lambda
aws ses create-receipt-rule \
  --rule-set-name inbound-rules \
  --rule '{
    "Name": "process-support-emails",
    "Enabled": true,
    "Recipients": ["support@example.com"],
    "Actions": [
      {"S3Action": {"BucketName": "incoming-email", "ObjectKeyPrefix": "support/"}},
      {"LambdaAction": {"FunctionArn": "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456789:function:process-support-email"}}
    ]
  }'

Monitoring

# Check sending quota and statistics
aws sesv2 get-account --query '{SendQuota:SendQuota,SendingEnabled:SendingEnabled}'

# Get sending statistics
aws ses get-send-statistics --query 'SendDataPoints[-5:]'

Best Practices

• Always verify domains with DKIM for better deliverability
• Set up bounce and complaint handling before sending at scale
• Use configuration sets to track delivery metrics
• Send from a subdomain (mail.example.com) to protect main domain reputation
• Include unsubscribe headers in marketing emails (required by law)
• Warm up new accounts gradually — start with small volumes
• Use the suppression list API to respect bounces and complaints
• Test with the SES mailbox simulator before going to production